The present invention relates generally to the treatment of diseases. More specifically the present invention relates to methods and compositions for the treatment of renal disease.
Of course, due to a variety of diseases and insults renal failure can occur in a patient. Acute renal failure can result from: direct renal tubular injury; renal ischemic; and intra-tubular obstruction. Renal failure results in diminished glomerular filtration and reduced secretion of metabolic waste products, water and electrolytes. Resultant fluid overload, electrolyte imbalances, and uremic syndrome can result in organ dysfunction ultimately resulting in death.
It is known to use dialysis to support a patient whose renal function is decreased to a point where the kidneys no longer sufficiently function. Dialysis provides a method for supplementing and replacing renal function in certain patients. Two principal dialysis methods are utilized: hemodialysis dialysis; and peritoneal dialysis.
In hemodialysis, the patients blood is passed through an artificial kidney dialysis machine. A membrane in the machine acts as an artificial kidney for cleansing the blood. Because it is an extracorporeal treatment that requires special machinery, there are certain inherent disadvantages with hemodialysis.
To overcome the disadvantages associated with hemodialysis, peritoneal dialysis was developed. Peritoneal dialysis utilizes the patient's own peritoneum as a semi-permeable membrane. The peritoneum is the membranous lining of the abdominal cavity that due to a large number of blood vessels and capillaries is capable of acting as a natural semi-permeable membrane.
In peritoneal dialysis, a dialysis solution is introduced into the peritoneal cavity utilizing a catheter. After a sufficient period of time, an exchange of solutes between the dialysate and the blood is achieved. Fluid removal is achieved by providing a suitable osmotic gradient from the blood to the dialysate to permit water outflow from the blood. This allows the proper acid-base electrolyte and fluid balance to be returned to the blood and the dialysis solution is simply drained from the body cavity through the catheter.
Although the use of dialysis, and other methods for treating patients with renal disease, provide treatments that allow patients with renal failure to survive, currently used compositions and methods may not provide all necessary therapeutic agents necessary to address renal failure.